


Plague of Ashes

by basilique



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Infinity War spoilers, M/M, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 20:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14480907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basilique/pseuds/basilique
Summary: Takes place after the events of Infinity War. Need I say more?





	Plague of Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> Content Warning: death, loss, (canonical character deaths) shock, grief
> 
> Steve processes what happened.

> Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave  
>  Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;  
>  Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.  
>  I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.  
>  -Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Dirge Without Music"

It was so sudden. 

One moment, he was there, looking at Steve, saying his name. 

The next, he was vanishing. He was _collapsing_ into ash and empty space. 

Steve had touched the ashes, too stunned to feel anything at all. 

They had carried Vision over, and for a moment, Steve had been able to focus on that. Vision, charred and dead. Wanda, pale as a ghost, with tendrils of electricity breaking out of her shaking hands. 

_He did it. He took the stone from Vision and it killed him. And then he did it. He did it._

"Where's Sam?"

"Where's T'Challa?"

The panic had started. The saddest, slowest panic that Steve had ever seen. They had all run to find each other, but their reflexes were slow, their legs were weak. They couldn't think. And everywhere they went, people were vanishing into ashes. There was no predicting who would go. Or when. It was a plague, but so much worse. One moment, someone was beside you, and the next, they were gone. There was no time to say goodbye. 

Sam was gone: Steve could feel it inside of him. Nat was beside him, giving orders. She was steadier than the rest of them; most of the people she loved were still alive. 

But there was no way to stop it. And so there was nothing to do but run, and call out names. Ash blew over Wakanda.

And when it finally stopped, and it seemed that the die that had been cast and the numbers were in, Steve found himself still alive. 

_Still alive._ That meant he would have to face it. 

He had turned and made his way alone back to the edge of the forest. He is there now. 

The glade is singed where Thanos did it. But the rest of the glade is still green. Steve walks to the spot where...where it...where he...where _Bucky_ had... 

He drops to his knees. 

And then, somehow, he is lying on the grass beside the spot. He reaches out, meaning to gently run his fingers over the ashes, but somehow he is clutching them in a fist. 

And he had not meant to cry, but a sound _tears_ from his throat, and a sob rips through his body. He is weeping. 

And he had not meant to let it make him weak like this, but all the strength is sapped from his muscles. He cannot get up, and never wants to. He never wants to leave this spot, on this ground, where Bucky... _Bucky_...


End file.
